You all know Sandie Herron. She writes the “Have You Heard?” posts here about audiobooks, and has Sandie’s Corner to talk about books. Sandie and I were online friends for years before I finally met her at a Bouchercon. She still had her Florida bookstore when we were first in touch, and she put me in touch with authors for the first Lee County Reading Festival in Ft. Myers, Florida. So, we’ve been friends for over twenty-five years. Thank you, Sandie for everything you do.

This week, Sandie’s sharing her favorite books of 2022. Thank you!

When Lesa asked me for a “best of 2022” sort of list, I clarified with her that these are my favorites of the year, not necessarily published in 2022.  I read two entire series and was able to narrow that to one entry from each.  There’s mystery, suspense, thrills, romance, comedy, science fiction, history, and a bit of paranormal too. 

Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun
Written by Lois Winston
Narrated by Alexandra Bitton-Bailey
Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 1
Unabridged Audiobook
Publisher:  Lois Winston (9/23/2022)
Listening Length: 8 hours, 20 minutes
ASIN:  B0BG8ZM57P

Anastasia Pollack has just been told of her husband’s death in Las Vegas, but she had no idea her husband was in Las Vegas nor that he had a gambling problem, had plowed through their nest egg, ravaged their home equity, cancelled the kids’ college funds, maxed out the credit cards, and borrowed from a loan shark who now wants to collect.  When Anastasia returns to work as craft editor at American Woman magazine, she finds the fashion editor sitting at her desk with hot glue dripping from her dead body. Anastasia is high on the list of suspects and rallies her co-workers to help her investigate.  But her situation got much worse before she found relief. The author kept the laughter coming and managed to keep the sarcasm light enough to be funny and the consequences livable.

A Very Merry Bromance
Written by Alyssa Kay Adams
Bromance Book Club, Book 5
Kindle version
Publisher: ‎Berkley (November 1, 2022)
Pages:  368
ASIN: B09RPLM8K8

County singer Colton Wheeler and immigration attorney and heiress Gretchen Winthrop fell into each other’s arms for the night a year ago at their friend’s wedding.  Gretchen was embarrassed and avoided Colton for the next year until her whiskey brewing family wanted him to head an ad campaign for them.  Colton, still sweet on Gretchen, insists on a couple of dates before he’ll consider it.  He wants to teach her about a down-home country Christmas while she wants him to learn about her cold family affairs.  While I love how the author brings together romance, comedy, and sex with love, family, and friends, she is able to combine that with the deeper issues of families of origin and self esteem without being contrived or preachy.

Shutter
Written by Ramona Emerson
Narrated by Charley Flyte
Unabridged Audiobook
Recorded Books (8/2/2022)
Listening Length: 8 hrs, 53 min
ASIN:  B0B1QVRDGJ

Navajo native Rita Todacheene is a skilled photographer.  As a child she caught the light of her grandfather’s soul in a photo.  As an adult, she still captures souls but now as a crime scene photographer.  One victim in particular will not let her rest until she promises to look into just how and why her body ended up spread across the highway.  The two concurrent storylines – Rita growing up and maturing across from Rita’s life today – merge seamlessly into a crisis Rita faces.  The author brings us a compelling, unique story about Rita using her wits, her smarts, and her unique talents.  This was a very intriguing mystery told with words both beautiful and brutal.

Lost in Time
Written by A. G. Riddle
Kindle Edition
Publisher:  Head of Zeus Ltd  (September 1, 2022)
Pages:  455
ASIN:  B09TCFTSPH

Lost in Time was a hybrid mystery crossed with science fiction with time travel at its center.  A team of scientists has invented a time machine used to send criminals back millions of years to the age of dinosaurs.  Suddenly one of them, Sam Anderson and his daughter Adeline, is framed for the murder of another team member.  He is sent to the far distant past while his daughter remains to discover who framed them and why.  I found this so compelling that I had trouble putting it down for daily activities like sleeping!  Very little time was spent with dinosaurs and more spent discovering the murder culprit, an unexpected storyline.

Book Lovers
Written by Emily Henry
Narrated by Julia Whelan
Unabridged Audiobook
Penguin Audio (May 3, 2022)
Listening Length: 11 hours, 23 minutes
ASIN:  B09BWT8PQJ

Nora Stephens’s life revolves around books.  She is a literary book agent and sometimes editor, nudging her clients into writing their best, holding their hands and answering their e-mails and texts at all hours.  Nora’s sister wants to get away on a sisters retreat to a small town where they can accomplish the things heroines of romances did in small towns, like meeting and falling in love with someone new and saving a failing business.  Nora is holding the hand of a nervous writer while tracking down a wifi connection in said small town when she spots a nemesis from work.  There he is, in his home town, handling his family’s failing business, and working at editing books remotely.  The sparks fly between the two even as they throw barbs and tropes and the romance speeds onward to a satisfying conclusion.

Fox Creek
Written by William Kent Krueger
Series:  Cork O’Connor, Book 19
Kindle version
Atria Books (August 23, 2022)
Pages:  400
ASIN: ‎ B09JPJF3PN

PI Cork O’Connor is good at his job so when a stranger approaches him in Aurora, Minnesota to find his wife who is discovering her Indian side with a guy named Meloux, Cork quietly takes his information and then visits Henry Meloux, the old medicine man where the woman is, indeed staying.  However, the man Cork snapped a photo of is not her husband, who actually turns out to be missing and on an environmental crusade, one the stranger and his team are very much against.  Henry’s sixth sense tingles, and he and the woman leave his home and venture to the edge of the Boundary Waters where they watch men with guns search for them.  Cork then tracks the stranger and his team following Henry and the woman.  Each team searches for the next until they eventually meet and join with others who search for the woman’s husband.  It’s all twists and turns until justice prevails.

A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder
Written by Dianne Freeman
Narrated by Sarah Zimmerman
Countess of Harleigh Mystery, Book 5
Unabridged Audiobook
Recorded Books (June 28, 2022)
Listening Length: 8 hours, 48 minutes
ASIN:  B0B2KPJRK5

The marriage of the Countess of Harleigh, Frances Wynn and George Hazelton should have been a joyous occasion.  The wedding ceremony goes well; however, disagreement over the courtship of Madeleine Connor ensues at the reception.  Viscount Daniel Fitzwalter, the heir to the Marquis of Sudley, swears he had a marriage contract for Madeline Connor yet Frances’s brother Alonzo wants the chance to court her.  There are many comings and goings between the reception at the Connor home next door, culminating with a visit by Alonzo where upon he finds Mr. Connor dead!  Promptly arrested and taken to jail, it was clear that George Hazelton would be Alonzo’s counsel and that George and Frances had a new case to untangle.  Their wedding trip to Cannes would have to wait.  It is always a pleasure to watch this duo investigate in turn-of-the-century London, and this newlywed outing does not disappoint.

Home of the Braised
White House Chef Mystery, Book 7
Written by Julie Hyzy
Narrated by Eileen Stevens
Unabridged Audiobook
Audible Studios (10/17/14) originally published in pb on 1/7/14
Listening Length:  8 hours, 15 minutes

Chef Olivia Paras couldn’t be happier that she and her Secret Service agent boyfriend Gavin are planning to tie the knot, with as little pomp and circumstance as possible and with plenty of speed.  A visit to a minister friend of Gav’s reveals a conspiracy of death and poison.  After processing that disastrous scene, Ollie returns to the White House kitchen to begin preparations for a state dinner for a delegation from long-term enemy Durasi in the US to discuss peace with the President.  Ollie must get everything right to promote the peace talks.  The kitchen is humming nicely when Ollie finds the speech her security agent escort is to give that evening at the state dinner.  Ollie must warn the President, but dinner has begun.  How Ollie manages to warn the President is ingenuous.  This taut 7^th entry in a series of nine books, all of which I enjoyed, is my favorite. 

Honey Roasted
Written by Cleo Coyle (Alice Alfonsi, Marc Cerasini)
Narrated by Rebecca Gibel
Coffeehouse Mystery, Book 19
Unabridged Audiobook
Tantor Audio (2/1/2022)
Listening Length: 10 hours, 8 minutes
ASIN:  B09K2QSQPR

Clare Cosi is introducing her barista staff from the Village Blend, the coffee house owned by her ex-mother-in-law Madame duBois, with a new blend of coffee when they notice bees in the room.  They trace them to a rooftop solarium where Madame’s best friend Bea Hastings raises this particular bee to use their honey in prize-winning blends.  Someone has attacked Bea and left her for dead.  Clare needs her fiancé, Lieutenant Mike Quinn of the New York Police Department to investigate but he’s wrapped up in his special unit tracking drug overdose deaths.  Clare launches several sometimes dangerous searches for additional information.  Meanwhile, Clare wonders if there should even be a wedding with Mike showing so little interest.  Her ultimatum elicits a response.  All our favorite characters appear in this 19^th series entry. 

Down a Dark Road
Written by Linda Castillo
Kate Burkholder Mystery, Book 9
Kindle Edition
Publisher:  Minotaur Books (July 11, 2017)
Pages:  292
ASIN:  B01NCNGVL3

Painters Mill, Ohio Police Chief Kate Burkholder learns that Joseph King has escaped prison.  Two years ago he was arrested for shooting his wife with a shotgun as she slept with her five children in the house.  Kate expects Joseph to flee to Canada, but he returns to see his children.  He takes Kate hostage with them and pleads with her to prove his innocence.  In this 9^th series entry, Kate Burkholder is as intelligent and determined as ever.  She’s human and imperfect yet stubborn and strong willed.  She has a unique skill set in that she can bridge the gap between the “English” and the Amish which is so vital in all 14 entries of the series.  All have been explosive suspense novels that I found riveting.